


Pretend

by SamuelJames



Category: Handsome Devil (2016)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-08-21 19:21:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16582529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamuelJames/pseuds/SamuelJames
Summary: Conor has a horrible training session with Weasel pretending Conor doesn't exist.





	Pretend

**Author's Note:**

> _**Title:** Pretend_   
>  _**Pairing:** Conor Masters/Ned Roche_   
>  _**Rating:** PG-13_   
>  _**Summary:** Conor has a horrible training session with Weasel pretending Conor doesn't exist._   
>  _**Notes:** Part of my one word collection where the single word prompt will be the fic title. Prompts are taken from [this list](http://artjournalist.com/one-word-art-journal-prompts/) and will be of varying lengths. Since I've rarely met a fandom I didn't want to stray into, there will be tons of different ones and various pairings._   
>  _**Disclaimer:** This transformative work has been created purely for entertainment purposes. No profit is made or sought. No copyright infringement is intended._   
>  _**Archiving Information:** Please do not archive elsewhere on the net or in other formats/languages._

Conor throws himself down onto his bed muttering under his breath.

"So training went well."

Conor shrugs and Ned goes and sits beside him. "Pascal still being okay with you?"

"Yeah, I mean he can't argue with results though I'm not sure he can quite wrap his head around me being gay and good at rugby. It's Weasel."

"That prick. What did he say?"

"Nothing. Pretended I wasn't there the whole time. Spoke to the others, passed to them. Even when the best move would have been to pass to me, he'd pick someone else. Victor tried to get him to be reasonable but they're finishing in a few weeks and they've already won. Really we don't even need to keep up with training but Pascal's worried about next year with five of the team in sixth year. Wants the rest of us ready when we come back."

"At least Weasel will be off being a dick somewhere else after the summer."

Conor takes Ned's hand. "Yeah but it's still shit to be ignored, to have him pretend I'm not there or that he can't hear me. I mean it's very school playground, he was just short of sticking his fingers in his ears at one point. I'm good at rugby and me coming out doesn't change anything I do on the pitch. He always waits now till I've showered before he'll go in like I'm going to stare at him."

"It's him, Conor, not you. He's hated me since the day I arrived, for daring to look a bit different and then when he latched onto the gay thing it became an almost daily torment. It's thanks to you that he's leaving as part of a winning team but maybe all he can see is the way you're different to him. In his eyes it's the gay thing but you're different in other ways; not a bully, into music, a good listener and you're kind. All he has is rugby and the whole team isn't like him but he just wants people that fit into his narrow view of the world. I mean all his friends have parents in the 'right' income bracket. He'll go and make friends with people just like him in college who come from money and are real rugby heads and find some job where it's all networking and scratching each others' backs. He won't change or try to understand anyone different. It must actually be shit to be so stuck in your world-view at seventeen and if anyone told him that he'd laugh because he's actually happy the way he is."

Conor lifts their joined hands and closes his other hand over Ned's. "That makes a lot of sense. I know he lost his dad but he doesn't seem to have sympathy for anyone."

"The school has a bereavement support group. Walter told me about it when I started. I went twice but he'd noticed me by then so I was never going to be able to talk with Weasel there. I know it's really shit how he's being with you but you don't need his approval."

"I know. Thanks for letting me complain."

"Boyfriend duty. I want to be the one you come to."

"You're good at the boyfriend stuff, Imagine if I'd ended up in some other room. You'd have just been a guy in my year."

"Lucky us. Want to do some more boyfriend stuff before dinner?"

Conor nods and gets up to wedge his chair under the door handle before returning to Ned who reaches out his hand and pulls Conor down onto the bed.


End file.
